


Royals and Halfbloods: Inktober edition

by Mycroffed



Series: Of Shadows and Lions [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, Versailles (TV 2015)
Genre: A challenge, I can't draw, Inktober 2018, M/M, One-Shots, but I can write so here we go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-07-23 19:47:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 17,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16165739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mycroffed/pseuds/Mycroffed
Summary: There's never a calm day at Camp Half-Blood, especially when your name is Philippe.--~--A series of one-shots inspired by the Inktober prompts. Set afterRoyals and Halfbloods.





	1. Poisonous

**Author's Note:**

> This is an impulsive decision and I desperately hope that I'll have enough time to write.
> 
> Some may be shorter, some may be longer. The point is not reaching a set amount of words, but to write every single day. Hope you're here on this adventure with me!

**“LORRAINE?”**

Philippe heard the door to his cabin open, though it wasn’t with the usual vigour that accompanied his boyfriend. With the smallest of smiles, he pushed himself up from where he had curled up with his favourite book, to look up at the man who had just entered his cabin. However, as he looked up, it wasn’t the other Philippe who had sauntered into his personal space.

It was Liselotte.

“Philippe…” She sighed softly. “It’s Lorraine, he’s in the med bay.”

The son of Hades immediately jumped up, practically throwing his book aside to rush over to her, towards the door, to his lover. “What’s happened?”

“He was out on the other side of camp, but there was a snake—” She couldn’t even finish her sentence before Philippe had ran out of the cabin, making his way straight to the med bay. He shadow-ran parts of his journey, even though that wasn’t his intention, even though all he wanted was to get to his love _as fast as he possibly could._ He simply hoped that he wasn’t too late.

He was greeted by Claudine, who stopped him from rushing into the med bay prematurely. Immediately, he demanded answers, what had happened to Lorraine, where was the snake, would he get better?

She just smiled.

“Walk in and see for yourself.” She stepped aside, gesturing to the sick bay.

Philippe rushed in, his eyes scanning the different beds in search of his boyfriend, but—all were empty. There was absolutely nobody there. “Wha—”

“ _Surprise!_ ” The second that he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by a voice that had by now become _very_ familiar. “Happy one month anniversary!” Lorraine jumped up from behind one of the beds, holding a picnic basket, wearing the widest grin around his lips. “You didn’t think that I would be so stupid as to be bitten by a _snake_ now did you?” He laughed, sauntering over to his boyfriend, only to press his lips against the other’s. Though the kiss didn’t last long, because the son of Hades stepped back.

“I—what—But that’s not until tomorrow!” Philippe was absolutely flabbergasted, taken by surprise by his darling.

“Well, maybe, but I’ve got different things planned tomorrow. Things that, unfortunately, mean that I can’t be celebrating with you. So instead, I talked to our friends and set up this little _charade!_ ” Lorraine smiled sweetly, his eyes overflowing with adoration for the man standing in front of him.

“Has it been a month already?” Philippe said softly, stepping closer to the son of Dionysus and taking the basket from him, only to place it onto the nearest bed. Once that was out of his hands, he pulled Lorraine into his arms, pressing a soft kiss to his lips, one that wasn’t broken because of the surprise.

“Yes.” The other whispered. “Time tends to go rather fast when you’re at Camp. No day is ever the same here, as you’ve no doubt found out by now.”

Philippe nodded. “Now, I believe that we have a picnic to get to.”

“That we do, my dear, that we do.”


	2. Tranquil

**AS LORRAINE HAD PROMISED, HE WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND THE NEXT DAY.** When Philippe asked Chiron about it, the centaur told him something vague, something about him having to go and collect something from a store in New York. He was suspected back home by the evening, but this meant that Philippe’s day couldn’t be spent lounging around in the man’s company. Such a shame. Their first anniversary, and already they were spending it apart.

Granted, they had celebrated yesterday with not just a picnic, but also—well, one could guess what they had done afterwards.

The mere memory was enough to make him smile as he made his way from the Big Building, instead to his cabin once again. He opened the door, not expecting anyone to be there as he walked in, but nothing was less true. As usual, he didn’t need to be alone: Liselotte was there, waiting for him, holding a book.

“I thought you might not want to be alone today.” She said, gesturing at the sofa where two blankets were waiting for the two of them, along with two hot cocoas. “Care for some company? I’ve got some light reading to do, but the library is overstocked.”

Two surprises in as many days. Philippe grinned brightly, before nodding and making his way over towards the bookshelf and picking a book. Once he had decided, he made his way over to the sofa, where he wrapped the blanket around him. “You are a wonderful friend, Liselotte.” He said, before gesturing at the other blanket. “I would be delighted to spend the rest of today with you.”

Just like that, the two of them spent the day together, curled up next to each other, always touching without actually _touching_ each other. Tranquillity enveloped him as he sipped that hot cocoa, a smile spreading across his face.

When Lorraine returned that evening, he found the two of them asleep, books sprawled out in their laps, Liselotte’s head resting on Philippe’s side. He pushed down the pang of jealousy that rushed through him and instead pecked the son of Hades’ forehead and decided to turn around in an attempt to leave.

However, before he could, Philippe’s hand moved, slowly wrapping his fingers around Lorraine’s wrist. “Join us.” He whispered, pulling his boyfriend a little closer to him. “Please.”

How could the son of Dionysus possibly say no to that?


	3. Roasted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter can be read independently from the previous two chapters.
> 
> These chapters are a perfect little break between sleeping, but the longer one for my Merlin fic that I was supposed to post today will be postponed to Saturday at the earliest.
> 
> It's coming, I promise, but first I have to battle this exhaustion that I'm feeling while I stop school from kicking my butt.
> 
> Thanks for being so patient with me and reading these very short pieces of fluff. (I've got some longer angst planned for later on, just you wait~)

**DURING THE CATCH THE FLAG GAME THAT CAME TO PASS ONCE EVERY YEAR,** there was always _some_ idiot that got hurt. Lorraine knew this, he knew it perfectly well. However, he had never quite suspected that that idiot would end up being _Philippe._ It had all started pretty well, with the cabins of Athena, Hades, Dionysus and Hermes working together, while the others formed the other team. Usually, the weapons were pretty evenly divided, but of course one of the Hephaestus idiots had managed to sneak a _fire breathing gun_ into the forest.

There were so many reasons that that was a horrible idea and Lorraine could name all of them if he hadn’t been so worried about the man who was currently residing in the med bay. So Liselotte would have to settle for a boiled down version.

“They could have burnt down the forest!” Lorraine yelled at her, while he stormed in the general direction where they had taken his boyfriend. “What would they have done then? All those trees, all those people, we would never have been able to get out of there fast enough!”

Liselotte, who knew better than to antagonise him when he was like this, when he was on the war-path, remained quiet. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the path in front of them, trying to make her way over to her friend. She was just as worried as Lorraine appeared to be, but she managed to hide her outrage just a little better.

“And _Philippe!_ He was an idiot for thinking that he could grab the flag before the flame actually hit him.” He tried to stop, really he _did_ , but he simply had to get his worry out and in his case, that turned into anger towards anything and everything. “It’ll be a miracle if he survives at all, without being scarred, without getting bad dreams from it. I’ve seen him have nightmares before, he’s quite prone to those.”

“Philippe, please.” The daughter of Athena’s voice was soft, but commanding nonetheless. “There is no use in being mad at him. He got too excited, just wanted to bring home the victory for us.”

Lorraine opened his mouth, ready to say something else, to have another crack at trying to get rid of all the anger inside of him, but he realised that she was right. So instead, he snapped his mouth shut and stomped off, into the med bay, to the bed of his lover. While Philippe had been unconscious when they had carried him away from the woods, the man was now sitting up straight, smiling as he spotted Lorraine walking in.

“Ah, just on time. Tell Claudine that I am perfectly fine and that I can go to my cabin. Just a good night’s rest and all will be fine.”

Philippe was so incredibly casual about the entire affair that Lorraine stormed towards him and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt. “Do you have _any_ idea just how worried I was? You could have gotten seriously hurt!”

“But I didn’t, mon mignon.” The son of Hades took advantage of the situation, of the fact that his boyfriend was suddenly this close to him. He grabbed the breastplate that Lorraine was still wearing and used it to pull him even closer, his lips brushing against the son of Dionysus’. “I just feel a little _roasted._ ”

Lorraine was torn. On one hand, he wanted to kiss Philippe, make him forget everything about that afternoon but the time that the two of them had spent together, but on the other hand he was still quite annoyed at him, even more so after that _horrible_ joke.

“Come on, laugh. Please? For me?”

He vaguely registered that Liselotte had come in and that she was now chuckling softly in the corner, but that wasn’t his main focus. That was, as it should be, Philippe’s puppy eyes, which he didn’t use often enough in his opinion. They made the young man look so incredibly young and adorable that he just couldn’t resist him.

Lorraine’s lips twitched, before he allowed a small smile to spread across his face. “Just _don’t do it again_.” He muttered, before pulling his boyfriend flush against him. His lips then slowly made contact with the other’s. Before the kiss could get out of hand, however, Claudine quickly put a stop to that – Liselotte had long given up trying to get the two of them to stop kissing – by grabbing Lorraine by the back of his breastplate and pulling him back.

“There will be no kissing in my med bay.” She said, quite sternly. “And since he is not allowed to leave until tomorrow—” She pointed at Philippe. “—I fear that you won’t be welcome here if that’s all you’re going to do. He needs to rest.”

The two boys exchanged a look, one that said ‘we’ll find a way to see each other again in here’. The grin they shared spoke more than words ever could.

“And don’t think that I won’t notice when you sneak back in here, Lorraine.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The son of Dionysus said, before pressing a kiss to Philippe’s forehead and leaving again.

 

\--~--

 

Later that night, Philippe extended the shadows, while Claudine suddenly found a bottle of wine on her desk. Within minutes, the two boys were curled up into each other’s embrace. Philippe was too tired to do anything but kiss and cuddle, so that was all they did. Lorraine spent a few hours watching him sleep, gently trailing tracks over the muscles, the naked skin that he could touch. Eventually, even he fell asleep, holding his lover as close as he could without waking him.

The next morning, Claudine found the two of them in that bed and while she knew she should be outraged that they broke her rules, she simply smiled and left them to sleep.


	4. Spell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a struggle.
> 
> I wanted to write something from Liselotte's point of view, but for some reason nothing I liked nothing that I wrote down, so I decided to go in an entirely different direction.
> 
> Hope you like it nonetheless.

“How did you spell that?”

Philippe glanced up, only to see Lorraine standing right next to him, glancing over his notes as the son of Hades went through them in preparation of his next strategy class. He had been totally lost, switching between writing in ancient Greek, French an English. It took the man a while to filter through the different languages and find the right one to answer Lorraine in. (For the son of Dionysus, it was only a fraction of a second, but for Philippe, it felt like at least five minutes.)

“H-O-P-L-I-T-E.” Philippe spelled it out loud, glancing at his boyfriend with a look of hesitation in his eyes. Had he made a mistake?

“Are you sure that that’s how you spell it?” Lorraine raised an eyebrow at him, snatching the papers from underneath Philippe’s hands. (Of course, the other gasped at that, immediately attempting to get it back.)

“Yes. That’s how Chiron spelled it, so I assume that it’s correct. I know that the ‘h’ is not written down in Greek, that it’s replaced by a _spiritus asper_ , but since we don’t have that in English, we actually spell it out.” Philippe knew that Lorraine had been at camp much longer than he had, but he was not aware whether the man knew ancient Greek. The Bourbon boy had picked it up surprisingly fast himself, so he suspected that it was very similar with his boyfriend.

“I know, it simply looks… weird to see it written in English.” Lorraine shrugged, handing the pages back to the other.

“I don’t agree, I think it looks weird in Greek.” Different people, different habits, he supposed.

Lorraine tilted his head, clearly debating something, which was more visible as he placed a hand on top of Philippe’s notes, stopping him from continuing to do his homework. “Well, why don’t you put it aside and instead of having a discussion about the spelling of a boring soldier, we can have some… _fun_.”

Philippe sighed softly, knowing that when his boyfriend got in this mood, there was nothing he could – or _wanted_ – to do about it. So he shook his head, more amused than angry or disappointed, and got up, tugging at Lorraine’s collar to pull him closer. “You’re _insatiable_.”

“And you wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“Gods know that I wouldn’t.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ancient Greek is my favourite old language that's not being spoken anymore. (Don't tell my Latin professor.)


	5. Chicken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Louis makes an appearance, kind of. Hope you enjoy it~

**BAM.**

As the marble door hit the opposite wall, Philippe flinched in his bed. He wrapped his duvet a little closer around himself and turned his back towards the figure he _knows_ is waiting for him.

Silence hung between the two of them for a few seconds. Usually, Lorraine arriving in his cabin was enough for him to crawl out of bed – or at least get an acknowledgement out of the son of Hades.

Today, however, he didn’t feel like moving or saying _anything._

“Philippe?”

Once again, neither of them said a word for a few seconds. The silence was getting quite heavy, but Philippe honestly didn’t care enough to break it.

“Time to get out of bed, mignon. I know we made it quite late last night, but you’ve already missed breakfast and—”

“Leave me alone, Lorraine.” Philippe surprised himself with how quiet yet powerful his voice was.

“But Philippe—”

“Did you not hear me?” He snapped, though he didn’t raise his voice. “I told you to _leave me alone_.”

The next sound he heard was the door falling shut behind Lorraine leaving. His heart ached as he imagined how his boyfriend must be feeling, but he couldn’t bring himself to move.

 

\--~--

 

He had no idea how much time had passed since Lorraine had left, but Philippe was woken up again by the door opening once more. This time, it was much gentler, which made him suspect that it was someone else who had come to talk to him.

“Hey.” He had been right, but he hadn’t thought that Lorraine would send Liselotte just yet. He had hoped that the son of Dionysus would try at least one more time himself.

However, Lorraine or not, he didn’t say a single word to acknowledge that he had heart that Liselotte was there.

“Philip—Lorraine said that you had some trouble getting out of bed. It’s past lunch now and you’ve still not moved, so I thought that you might be sick. I talked to Claudine and she told me to bring you something to eat, so here I am! I don’t know what you like, so I just brought you a chicken broth, my mom always makes them when _I’m_ sick and—”

No matter how much Philippe wanted to snap at her that he wasn’t sick, he stopped himself. “Just leave it on a table somewhere, I’ll eat it when I’m hungry.”

He could hear the hesitation hanging in the air for a few seconds before he heard the noise of the bowl hitting the table.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to bring it to you? Otherwise it’ll get cold and that’d be a shame.”

“Bye, Liselotte. Thank you for stopping by.”

Philippe was pretty sure she remained there for a few more seconds, debating whether she should ignore him and bring him the food anyway or if she should listen and just leave.

She was gone a few seconds later.

 

\--~--

 

He was pretty sure it was around dinner time when his door opened again. He braced himself for another voice, another friend, trying to reach out to him, but nothing happened. It was as if nobody was even there at all.

He rolled over, only to spot Lorraine standing next to his bed, his hand hovering over Philippe’s phone. The two of them made eye contact and while the son of Hades could see the exact moment that Lorraine _wanted_ to speak, the other didn’t see a single word. He simply sent him a sad smile, grabbed the phone and left again.

 

\--~--

 

**Text: Louis – 6:55 p.m.**

Philippe refused to get out of bed today. Is that normal?

**Text: Louis – 7:01 p.m.**

This is Lorraine, his boyfriend, btw.

**Text: Philippe – 7:04 p.m.**

It has happened before.

I know it is tempting to try and lure him out of bed, but just leave him be.

If he doesn’t come out tomorrow, call me.

If he does, don’t ask him if he’s okay, just don’t start talking about it unless he starts that conversation.

He’ll talk to you when he’s ready.

**Text: Louis – 7:11 p.m.**

You care more than he thinks.

Thank you.

**Text: Philippe – 7:12 p.m.**

Let me know how he’s doing tomorrow.

**Text: Louis – 7:13 p.m.**

I will.

 

\--~--

 

The next morning, when Lorraine walked into Philippe’s cabin to wake him, he was greeted by a smiling boyfriend, who immediately pulled him in for a kiss.

The only sign that something had happened the day before was the col bowl of chicken broth.


	6. Drooling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is set in the future after the second longer story that I haven't written yet. Either way, it's got a damaged Philippe in there.
> 
> I forgot to post it yesterday, though, so you'll get two chapters today.

**THE TWO OF THEM DIDN’T OFTEN SPEND THE NIGHT TOGETHER.** This was partially because of the rules – and Philippe’s reluctance to break them too often – but mostly because the son of Hades had gathered enough memories to have nightmares about. He often woke up screaming in the middle of the night – something Nico assured him wasn’t too abnormal for a son of Hades – and he tried his best to hide that from his boyfriend.

The nights they _did_ spend together, Philippe stayed awake. He refused to allow Lorraine to see just how damaged his last few quests had left him. Most of the night he then spent looking at the man he’d started to love.

There were many things that he learned during those nights spent staring at Lorraine. For instance, he made one of the cutest little noises when rolling over. It was a mix between a tiny little yawn and a soft moan and every time that Philippe heard it, he couldn’t help but coo softly at the man in his arms. It was so adorable that he just couldn’t help it.

Another one of those things was that Lorraine _drooled_.

Philippe had noticed this before, of course, there were small little marks on the demigod’s pillow that betrayed this fact, but he hadn’t actually had the chance to witness this until Lorraine drooled on _him_. The son of Dionysus had rolled over and rested his head on Philippe’s stomach. Initially, he ran his hands through the demigod’s hair, but after a while, he was starting to feel a little wet spot on his stomach.

As he gently moved his lover around, he spotted the little bit of drool at the corner of Lorraine’s mouth. He pressed a soft kiss to his mouth in an attempt to wipe it away, only to wake up the other.

“Philippe?” Lorraine whispered, blinking sleepily up at the other.

“Go back to sleep, mignon.” The son of Hades muttered. “It’s just me. Don’t worry about it.”


	7. Exhausted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wish I could write things like this every day, but sometimes inspiration is just not that easy to get.
> 
> There'll be a Chevalier-centered story soon.

**LORRAINE KNEW THAT QUESTS WERE NEVER THE MOMENT THEY GOT ENOUGH SLEEP.** Demigods couldn’t really check into a hotel or a motel – they couldn’t risk hurting the mortals – so usually, when he was on a quest, either with Philippe or others, they camped outside somewhere. This meant, however, that one of the people present had to keep watch.

Today it wasn’t any different. Lorraine and Philippe had been sent out to track a couple of monsters that had been terrorizing the locals and even though it wasn’t supposed to last much longer than a couple of days, Lorraine had hoped to be home by now. It had only been a couple of nights, but he had noticed a few things about Philippe that worried him.

The previous night, Philippe had volunteered to keep watch first so that Lorraine could catch some much-needed catch eye – they had fought one of the monsters and the son of Dionysus had taken most of the fighting on him. The two of them had agreed that the son of Hades would wake him up around three a.m. so that he would be able to get some sleep of his own. Only, when Lorraine woke up again, it was already eight a.m. and Philippe was working on breakfast.

No matter how much the two of them had argued about it, Philippe had promised that the other demigod would be allowed to keep watch all day the next night.

No such luck.

The two of them had found a safe place and had set up their instant tent. Lorraine was preparing himself for a long night, but Philippe already had that look in his eyes that said that he wasn’t going to argue about anything.

“Philippe, I’m taking the first watch today, as we agreed yesterday.” Lorraine walked over to his lover, pulling him in for a hug and pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Get some shut-eye, you look tired.”

“I’m fine.” The son of Hades muttered, pushing the other away from him. “Why don’t you go to sleep first? I’ll wake you up when I get tired.”

“ _Philippe Bourbon_ , you _promised_ me that you would sleep tonight.” Lorraine immediately regretted using that full name as he watched his boyfriend flinch and turn around.

“Go to sleep, Philippe de Lorraine. I promise that I won’t take a full night’s watch again.” The demigod sighed softly and simply walked away. Lorraine could already see him wrap himself in shadows so that anyone sneaking up on the little camp wouldn’t be able to see him. He sighed, knowing that he had lost this fight and that there was no point in staying awake. He would have to take Philippe on his word and just trust he’d keep it.

 

\--~--

 

Once again, when Lorraine woke up, it was already morning. He cursed softly under his breath, before crawling out of the tent and walking towards Philippe with a murderous look on his face. “You’d wake me up when you got tired.”

“I didn’t get tired and when I came to wake you up, you looked so peaceful – you were _drooling –_ so I decided to let you sleep a little longer. Before I knew it, the sun was rising.” Philippe was clearly dismissing the entire situation.

Lorraine knew that he was lying, but once again, he decided to let it slide because he didn’t want to fight. After all, they still needed to track one more monster and that was more important than this argument between the two of them. The son of Dionysus would take care of that once the two of them had arrived back at Camp.

“Let’s just get to work. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get that monster and return home tonight.” He attempted to sound as nonchalantly as possible, though he kept a close eye on Philippe.

“That sounds like a plan, mignon.”

 

\--~--

 

Tracking the monster wasn’t too difficult – it was almost as if it _wanted_ them to find it – but facing it was. It was smart and fast and the two of them had to use everything they had to fight it off. Lorraine was trying his hardest, but time and time again he found himself diving in front of Philippe because his reaction was just a little bit too slow. If he hadn’t, he was sure that his boyfriend would have been hit multiple times.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” He called out, glancing over at the other.

“I’m _fine_ , Lorraine, keep your eye on it!” Philippe hissed at the other, before dodging one of the monster’s attacks.

“You look  exhausted, you should just let me handle this.” The son of Dionysus parried an attack, before lashing out to hit the monster in its side. “I wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“Just let me—” Philippe took a deep breath and Lorraine knew right before he disappeared what the demigod was about to do. “—Do what I do best.” The son of Hades had reappeared on top of the creature, before plunging his sword right through its head.

Lorraine launched himself in the direction of the monster, knowing that it was going to disappear in a cloud of smoke and that his boyfriend would crash to the ground. However, he was too late. By the time he reached the place, Philippe had already landed.

“Philippe!” He exclaimed, kneeling right next to him. “Philippe, are you okay?”

“I’m perfectly—” The son of Hades looked pale as death, even more so than usual, and he was shaking like a leaf in Lorraine’s arms. “I’m perfectly fine, I— I just need a nap.” He tried to get up, scrambling back on his feet, but he couldn’t even manage to lift his butt a few inches off the ground. He fainted before he could even move.

 

\--~--

 

When Philippe woke up again, a few hours later, he was in his own bed. Not knowing how he had gotten there, how he had gotten home again, he immediately pushed himself back up, glancing around. At first glance, the cabin appeared empty, but as he glanced around again, his eyes now used to the lack of light, he spotted Lorraine on the sofa close to his bed.

“You didn’t tell me that you had nightmares.” His boyfriend sounded incredibly disappointed by the lack of trust.

“I don’t.” Philippe’s first instinct was to lie about it, like he had for so long. “I don’t know why you think that I do, mignonette.”

“Not _now,_ Philippe.” The son of Dionysus got up, making his way over to the door. “If you are going to keep lying, I will be leaving and you can consider us _finished._ I thought that you trusted me.”

“I don’t—Lorr— _Philippe_ , I didn’t know how to tell you.” He mumbled, before jumping out of bed and rushing over to him in an attempt to stop him from walking out on him. “How can you possibly say that you keep seeing the faces of the people that died while fighting, the monsters who looked humanoid and who I _killed_ , _Henriette_ … How can I… When we’re at Camp, I can manage it. I sleep alone, so I don’t really bother anyone when I wake up screaming or crying. On quests—I tried to convince Chiron to send someone else, but he thought it best for me to go, to be honest about it to you, but I just couldn’t.” As Philippe spoke, he slowly but surely unravels. His composure soon disappeared as he clung to his boyfriend, before he went on to practically _beg_ his boyfriend to stay. “Please don’t leave me, mignonette. _Please_.”

“You should have told me, Philippe.” He said softly, stepping out of the son of Hades’ grip. “You’re on bedrest for the rest of the day, Claudine’s orders.” Lorraine smiled at the other for just a second before walking out the door, leaving Philippe alone once again.

“No! Please don’t leave me!” The son of Hades exclaimed, rushing out of the cabin in an attempt to stop him.

“Don’t worry, I’m just going to get some books. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Lorraine sent his boyfriend a quick smile, before rushing to his own cabin.

Philippe returned back to bed, where he still was when Lorraine returned with his favourite books. Suddenly, the son of Hades didn’t have any trouble staying in bed. Suddenly, as he listened to Lorraine read out loud from the books he had brought, he didn’t have any trouble drifting off into a peaceful slumber.

Maybe Philippe should have been honest about his nightmares ages ago. It certainly would have saved him plenty of sleepless nights.


	8. Star

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O o f. I'm bad at writing every day, I'm sorry.
> 
> This is a very short one because I wanted to try and write something under fifty words.

**“SO THAT’S ORION, HUH?** Big Greek hero? Did so well they placed him in the sky?”

“Yup.”

Silence.

“If you could nominate one hero to be placed up there after their death, who would you pick?”

“You.”


	9. Precious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, I like writing when I'm on the train. This is one of my train babies~ (Does that make sense?)

**LORRAINE FOUND PHILIPPE STARING AT A SMALL JEWELLERY BOX,** too lost in thought to notice that his boyfriend had walked in. The demigod cleared his throat in an attempt to catch his attention, but he didn’t quite appreciate the hint of panic in Philippe’s eyes as he fumbled to hide the box from the son of Dionysus. He wasn’t fast enough and Lorraine could clearly still see it in his hands. The second that Philippe realised what had happened, he took the box back out, showing what was inside to the other.

“What is that?” He asked, spotting the piece of jewellery in Philippe’s hands.

“My mom’s ring. Louis sent it to me months ago.” The son of Hades was quiet for a moment before continuing. “I forgot I had it.”

“Why don’t you wear it?”

Lorraine immediately regretted that question, because the look in Philippe’s eyes resembled one of a startled deer with his wide eyes.

“I couldn’t. I’m not used to wearing rings, what if I lost it?” His eyes lowered to one of his boyfriend’s hands, which were adorned with rings.

“If you’re scared you might lost it, then it must be very _precious_ for you.” Lorraine had never heard Philippe talk about his parents – he was aware that at one point, he had had both a mother and a father, besides Hades obviously, but apart from that, he knew next to nothing about Philippe’s family.

“It is.” The son of Hades hesitated for a fraction of a second. “And that’s why I would like you to keep it safe for me.”

Lorraine gasped, surprised at the honour bestowed upon him. “Why?”

“Because, mon mignonette, I would be sadder if I lost you than if I lost the ring.” A small but very genuine smile found its way around Philippe’s lips. “This ring may be precious, but not as much as you are to me. I love you, Philippe.”

“I love you too, Philippe.”

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to lean closer for a kiss, but as neither of them moved, they just ended up chuckling softly and leaning closer for a cuddle, right where they sat.


	10. Flowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to be on time. School really /is/ kicking my butt.
> 
> So once again, you're getting two chapters, though these two are going to follow up which is going to come to a climax on the 13th.
> 
> Fingers crossed that I'll be able to write on time. (:

**WATER.**

The first thing he realised around him was water. It was flowing, calmly, enveloping him in warmth and a sense of security. Nothing could bother him while he was here, while he was safe. He didn’t even need air, did he? The only thing he did need was Lorraine, but he wasn’t here.

Wait.

How did he even know that he needed Lorraine, but he couldn’t even remember his own name?

As he glanced around, trying to look for this Lorraine, whose face he suddenly couldn’t remember anymore, the flow of the water changed, from slow and comforting to something more constricting, something that kept him from moving and glancing around in an attempt to find the person he needed.

Suddenly, his breast starting burning, his lungs needing air all of a sudden.

His peaceful slumber – or whatever it had been – was now broken, especially as he moved his limbs around desperately in an attempt to get back to the surface. Breathe. He needed to _breathe._

The more he moved, the more he attempted to get away, the more he felt that _need_ to get out, the wilder the water around him became. The more he tried to get _out_ , the harder it became to move to the surface. Slowly but surely, panic was starting to spread through him, his limbs now desperately thrashing about as he sunk deeper and deeper into the water.

_Philippe!_

A voice drifted down towards him, penetrating the darkness of the water around him with a small ball of light. It lit up his surroundings, for a moment allowing him to see, but it quickly faded back to darkness, the threat of drowning getting more and more intense.

His gasps were becoming desperate attempts to get _some_ air into his lungs, to get back to the surface and back home, back—

_Philippe!_

The voice once again lit up his surroundings, but soon the same happened: the little bit of light that managed to get to him soon faded back to darkness. No matter how much he clung to it, how he attempted to reach out, nothing would help, nothing would chase away the darkness that surrounded him until—

_Philippe!_

This time, it wasn’t just the light that came down with the voice, it was a set of arms as well. Hands that grabbed his shirt, that started to tug on him to get him on. He could feel the pull of the deep waters, but the arms were stronger (for now, at least.) The more they tugged, the more he felt the water calming down until he broke the surface and—

 

\--~--

 

He was gasping for air, clawing at his throat, coughing up his lungs as Philippe fully realised where exactly he was. He wasn’t somewhere stuck in water, he was in Lorraine’s arms, who was clutching him to his chest and gently rocking him in an attempt to calm him down.

“Hey, _hey,_ Philippe, I’m here, I’m here, you’re safe now. You don’t need to worry, it’s all fine.” The soft and meaningless mumbles of his boyfriend calmed him down enough to slowly but surely stop trashing about. Instead, he just closed his eyes and rested his forehead against Lorraine’s shoulder.

Immediately, flashes of water appeared in front of his eyes and he forced them open once again.

“What happened? You were having a nightmare, but you couldn’t breathe, you were—” Lorraine shook his head, not quite knowing how to describe what he had seen as he had come to wake up his boyfriend for some midnight partying. “I’m worried about you, mon mignon.”

“It’s _nothing_ , Philippe.” The Bourbon boy took a deep breath – his lungs still hurt from the lack of air –before slowly but surely pushing him away the son of Dionysus. “There’s nothing for you to worry about. This happens all the time.”

“Yeah, that doesn’t exactly reassure me, my darling.” Lorraine gently pecked Philippe’s forehead, once again attempting to comfort his boyfriend, to make sure that he felt loved and cared for. “Please tell me more.”

“It’s _not_ your problem.” The son of Hades finally pushed his boyfriend off his bed, before using the shadows that were always hanging in the air in the Hades cabin to start pushing the other out of there. He didn’t want to talk about whatever had happened – and he knew that if he stayed around, if he allowed the son of Dionysus to spend whatever was left of the night with him, he’d _have_ to talk about it.

But that was something better postponed to a point where he was more awake and wasn’t still feeling the panic coursing through his veins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally, I imagined Philippe watching Lorraine dancing, but I haven't written angst in a while sO HERE WE GO.
> 
> This chapter and the next are linked together, then we're taking a break with the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth will be the penultimate chapter for this tiny little storyline arch.
> 
> Have fun (:


	11. Cruel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops part two of the angst. Part three will arrive on Saturday!

**IT WAS PAST NOON BY THE TIME THAT PHILIPPE FINALLY MADE HIS WAY OUT OF HIS CABIN.** He felt like shit – and he was pretty sure that he looked like it as well. He hadn’t taken the time to brush his hair, which caused his hair to stand up in every single direction, nor did he bother to put on any fresh clothes. He thrown on the same faded orange shirt that he had worn the day before, and had barely managed to put the trousers he had put on before.

He knew that once again, he had missed his morning class, that he would probably be called in front of Chiron to get a lecture, but he honestly didn’t care. He appeared at lunch – the cafeteria was filled with other demi-gods, of course, who all looked up as this mess of a boy appeared at the entrance.

Only two people looked up at him and smiled, genuinely glad to see him, and those were Lorraine and Liselotte, predictably. The daughter of Athena gestured at him to join them, but Philippe glanced away and made his way to the table of Hades, rather than join them at the table of Dionysus. There were a few shocked gasps here and there – by this point, _everyone_ knew about the _alliance_ between the sons of Dionysus and Hades – but most of the whispers remained just that. Whispers.

Once lunch was over, Philippe disappeared again, not wanting to talk to anyone else. All he wanted was just to get something to eat and then disappear once again. Most of the camp was happy to simply leave him alone, but Lorraine wasn’t. The son of Dionysus made his way over the Hades cabin, as was his usual habit after lunch.

Philippe was on his bed, curled up around himself, reading his favourite book. (Or at least it used to be before the entire world had changed for him. Now, he found himself being unable to focus on it, especially with his boyfriend barging into his cabin.)

“Philippe, what the _Hell_ was that?” He didn’t even hesitate, Lorraine simply get to Philippe, grabbed his arm and pulled him off the bed.

“Hey! Personal space, _personal space_!” Philippe complained, struggling against the other’s grip.

“First, you have a nightmare, which is absolutely okay, which I completely understand. I have had quite a few myself – side effect of being a _demigod_ , I’m afraid – and I know that they make you feel all alone.” Lorraine refused to let go of his boyfriend, forcing him to make eye contact with him. “But don’t push me away. We can talk about this, I will listen if you need me to. I’ll do whatever you want me to do.”

“What I need you to do, Lorraine—” It was the first time since the two of them had started dating that Philippe had actually addressed him with that name rather than a silly little nickname. He could immediately see it in the look on his boyfriend’s face that it hurt him. “—is to get away from me and leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“Philippe, I get that you’re upset, but _this isn’t you_.” Lorraine refused to listen to the other, refused to accept how his boyfriend was pushing him away. “Please. Don’t do this.”

A dark laugh escaped the son of Hades as he wrapped the shadows a little tighter around him, trying once again to manipulate them so that the son of Dionysus would let go of him. It wasn’t so much that he had stopped loving him – he didn’t think that he would ever be able to do that – but his heart ached at all the pain that he was causing him, all the pain that he _had_ caused him already. He knew that if he went on, he would only end up hurting him more and honestly, he simply wanted to be left in peace. “You’re wrong, Lorraine. This is _exactly_ who I am supposed to be.”

The son of Dionysus gasped and finally let go of him, stumbling backwards. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“The more I’m here, the more I realise, I don’t belong with you. I don’t even belong here, you were just a distraction until I could figure this all out on my own.” Philippe pushed himself up from his bed, before jumping down so that he could stand in front of his boyfriend, attempting to tower over him. Tendrils of darkness, of shadows, surrounded him as he stood there, making him look taller than he actually was. “I should have ended it a long time ago, but you were just so _good_.”

“Philippe.” Lorraine said softly, his eyes wide as he once again stepped back. “You’re messing with me, aren’t you?”

He rolled his eyes at the son of Dionysus, before stepping back. “Nope.” And of course, he made sure that the ‘p’ popped properly.

Lorraine stared at him for a moment, before turning around and storming out of the cabin, leaving Philippe all alone. The man’s expression fell the second that his boyfriend couldn’t see him anymore. Tears welled up in his ears, before he stumbled back to his bed and curled up there.

Before he knew, he had fallen asleep again.

 

\--~--

 

He heard the door open, but he refused to acknowledge anyone walking in. He knew that it wasn’t Lorraine, he didn’t expect him to come back anytime soon, so the only person who would walk in was Liselotte.

He was proven right when her voice came from right next to him.

“You broke his heart, I hope you know this.” Liselotte said, though there was no kindness in her voice. Philippe knew that she was friends with Lorraine first and that she would probably pick his side in this entire thing.

“That was my intention.” He said softly, and no matter how much he tried to control his voice, he couldn’t help but tremble. “I just want him to—I’m not a good person to be around. I hurt everyone, so it was better to just get rid of him before I could hurt him more than I did now.”

Liselotte remained quiet for a moment before reaching out and grabbing his arm – it was the only piece of her that she could reach. “You did it to protect him? _Philippe_ , you know that that always ends up poorly.”

“I don’t want to hurt him by accident.” He was very much aware how weak his position was, how easily she would be able to blow away the reasoning behind his actions.

“So you just hurt him on purpose?” Liselotte sounded so _done_. Philippe had to admit, he was pretty much done with himself as well.

The silence said more than any words possibly could. “Tell him I’m sorry?”

“Tell him that _yourself_ , Philippe.” He could feel her hand disappearing from his arm and before he knew it, the door fell shut behind her. Once more, he was all alone.


	12. Whale

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written to make a horrible pun.
> 
> Uh, the angsty thing needs some work, so it'll be here tomorrow. Sorry!

**To Philippe – 10:48 a.m.**

I saw a whale today, brother.

**To Philippe – 11:03 a.m.**

Whale then. I take it you have class?

**To Louis – 11:06 a.m.**

I do, but I’m not in it.

**To Philippe – 11:08 a.m.**

Is it one of those days?

**To Louis – 11:12 a.m.**

I guess so. I’m not quite sure.

Why do you ask?

**To Philippe – 11:13 a.m.**

I made a horrible pun and you didn’t say anything about it.

**To Louis – 11:18 a.m.**

You tend to stop making them if I don’t acknowledge it.

In fact, you tend to stop talking altogether if I stop acknowledging you.

**To Philippe – 11:19 a.m.**

Do you want me to shut up?

**To Philippe – 12:18 p.m.**

I miss you.

**To Louis – 3:48 p.m.**

I miss you too.

Can I come home?

**To Philippe – 3:58 p.m.**

You are always welcome here.

**To Louis - 4:05 p.m.**

Thank you.


	13. Guarded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we have it!
> 
> Just one for tonight, I fear. I know I'm one behind, but I'll get it done tomorrow. (: I just need to have some ideas.
> 
> Some not so nice things are suggested in this chapter, though, so please do take care when reading this~

**PHILIPPE WAS A BIT OF A GHOST IN THE CAMP FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK,** most people barely saw him. And those who were paying attention to him – and Lorraine – realised fairly quickly that something was off with the both of them. The son of Hades was just quiet, trying to keep away from everyone in the group, but Lorraine was still trying to interact with the others, with his other friends – who he had ignored a little since meeting Philippe.

On Saturday, the son of Hades made his way over to the table where Liselotte and Lorraine were sitting, chatting amicably. The second that the Bourbon boy arrived, the shift in the son of Dionysus couldn’t possibly be more clear. His guard was put up and Philippe knew very well that it was _his_ fault. He had hurt him and even though he wanted to keep his distance to give him some time to get over it, he was _lonely_.

“Hello, Philippe.” Liselotte sent him a little look, one that told the son of Hades that he needed to get his act together and apologise to the other demigod. “Nice to see you again.”

“Liselotte. Philippe.” The Bourbon boy sat down in front of them, refusing to look at his (ex?) boyfriend. “How’ve you been doing?”

“Philippe and I have been talking, as usual.” Liselotte said softly, shrugging. She clearly wasn’t as much of a fan of the Bourbon anymore as she used to be, especially after what he had done. “And we’ve been going to classes, something _you_ haven’t been doing, have you?”

Philippe wanted to tell her that he had come out to have a good time and that he honestly felt so attacked right now, but he was more mature than that. Rather than whine and complain, he simply nodded, before clearing his throat. “I’m here to tell Lorr— _Philippe_ something.”

That managed to get Lorraine’s attention and in a snap movement, he made eye contact with the son of Hades. “You don’t even know whether I’ll listen.”

“It’s worth a shot anyway.” Philippe said quietly, before taking a deep breath and starting to explain what had happened, what he had done. “I was hurting, Mignonette, in an attempt to stop myself from accidentally pushing you away from me—”

“You did it on purpose.” The son of Dionysus mumbled.

Philippe blinked a few times as the other completed his sentence. He hadn’t considered that Lorraine knew how he felt, what he had been doing. “You mean you _knew_?”

“You’ve never asked how I ended up here, did you?” The son of Dionysus raised an eyebrow at Philippe. “I know so much about your family, but you have absolutely _no_ idea what I went through with _my_ family!”

“Philippe, you don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want.” Liselotte placed a hand on his shoulder, attempting to show him that she had his back, that she was ready to support him if necessary. “You’re right, he has never once considered asking a question about _you_ , but that doesn’t matter that you have to start talking now.”

“Liselotte, you know I adore you, but you have no idea what we’re talking about.” He might have sounded a little harsher than he intended, but that didn’t mean that Lorraine said it with the utmost of love.

“Philippe—” The son of Hades reached out, wanting to know what this was that the two of them were talking about, though he was very much aware that he was in no position to demand answers from the other. “—I know it’s too late, but please, tell me what happened?”

Once again that guarded expression flashed across Lorraine’s face, before he turned his full attention to his boyfriend. “I wish I could say that your family was worse than mine, but Philippe, you have no idea. Your family _loves_ you, even if you are too stubborn to see it yourself. Louis worries about you and at least you had your mother. I never—” He chocked up, for a moment unable to continue.

“Mignonette…” Philippe whispered, attempting to help him through whatever was stopping him from talking. “Listen, mon amour, you don’t have to talk to me about your family, I get it. I’ll have to shut up about my family and their lack of empathy a little more.”

“I’m not asking you to _change_ , Philippe. I just need you to _shut up_ and listen for a moment.” Suddenly, Lorraine had found his tongue again – and for a moment, it sounded as if the old version of him, the one Philippe had fallen in love with, had returned. “My father was an arsehole. Always had been, to me and to my two older brothers, who really _were_ his sons. I was not and he _knew_ this before I was even born. Kept rubbing it in my face as well.”

For some reason, the son of Hades actually listened to the other instead of continuing to talk about himself. He simply reached out to the other, grabbed his hand and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles.

“I was in and out of the hospital constantly during my childhood, thanks to him, continuously in pain and hurting and—” He once again hesitated, but a quick squeeze of Philippe reassured him that he was being listened to. “—My mom had died at my birth and my father blamed me for taking his wife away. When I turned eight, my father got extremely drunk and cursed Dionysus. This got my dad— _Dionysus’s_ attention and he stopped by, hoping to be able to place a wonderful curse on a poor mortal, but instead, he found _me_.” He gestured at himself, the smile around his lips a very _sad_ one. “He brought me here, where I am safe from him. Apart from a few others, who have moved on by now, I’ve been here the longest.”

“I didn’t know, Philippe.” The Bourbon boy said quietly, before once again pecking his boyfriend’s knuckles. “I should have asked, but I didn’t know, I’m so, _so_ sorry.” Some tears were welling up in his eyes out of sympathy for the other. “I was too wrapped up in my own drama that I didn’t even _think_ about—”

All Lorraine had to do was lift a hand to stop Philippe from talking. “What I’m trying to say is that I know how you’re feeling. I _know_ what you’re doing because I’ve been there. I’ve kept my distance, terrified that people would be like him, that they would hurt me like he had. It took me _months_ before I could actually see clearly. Our situations may be different, but Philippe, my darling, you cannot go down the same route as I have.”

Rather than say anything – Philippe didn’t have the right words anyway – he nodded, before getting up and walking to the other side of the table. He pulled him in for a hug and closed his eyes for a moment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I just thought…”

“You thought that it would make you feel better.” The Bourbon boy could feel one of Lorraine’s hands entangling with his curls. “It’ll only make you more lonely. So I will promise you something, Mignon: next time you attempt to push me away, I will slap you and make it quite clear what you are doing.”

For a moment, Philippe doubted the other’s wording, but then again, the demigod was probably right and he would simply roll over and accept it. “Thank you.” The son of Hades whispered, before pressing a soft kiss to Lorraine’s cheek. “I knew I loved you for a reason.” It was partially a joke, of course, but he also meant it absolutely and completely.

“I love you too, you arsehole.” Lorraine chuckled, rolling his eyes at the son of Hades, before pulling him a little closer. “Don’t ever pull a stint like that again, understood?”

“Understood.”


	14. Clock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. There's been a theme these last few days, apart from me posting late.
> 
> It's continued.
> 
> Please take care of yourself.

**ON ONE OF THOSE DAYS THAT PHILIPPE COULDN’T GET OUT OF BED,** not even if the world depended on it, he got his phone out and wrote a few down in a note. He just needed to get it all off his chest and for him, this was the best way. Write until he couldn’t feel anymore, right?

_How do you know whether or not you’re having a bad day:_

  1. _Getting out of bed seems like the biggest chore, so you’d rather roll around and sleep some more._
  2. _Every time you glance at the clock, either minutes have passed that felt like hours, or hours have passed that felt like minutes._
  3. _You feel like you’re bothering everyone by breathing, so you’d rather be alone._
  4. _When you’re alone, loneliness crushes you._
  5. _Dreams don’t exist, only nightmares._



He could think of many more signs but Philippe decided to roll around and sleep some more, since he was feeling like all of the above.

 

\--~--

 

Little did he know that Lorraine was also composing a similar list, only this one was a little more positive.

_What to do when he’s having a bad day:_

  1. _Don’t let him stay in bed all day. No matter what, get him to join you for breakfast. Being around people cheers him up._
  2. _If he keeps glancing at a clock, distract him. This is_
  3. _If he tries to push you away, put your foot down and stay anyway. You’re more stubborn than he is._
  4. _Don’t let him be alone, especially when he keeps playing that one part of Bohemian Rhapsody over and over again._
  5. _If necessary, spoon him throughout the night._



Lorraine read it through once more, before sighing contently and putting down his pen.

 

\--~--

 

Liselotte also had some lists, but these ones had been growing since she had met Lorraine. She kept adding more and more once she got to know them better. Her lists now involved two people rather than just the one, since her friend group had grown considerably.

_Things Philippe L. loves:_

_Being surprised_

_Drama_

_Alcohol (a little too much, perhaps)_

_His friends (_ me! _)_

_His father Dionysus_

_Philippe B._

_Things Philippe B. loves:_

_Horses_

_His brother (though he denies this)_

_His friends (_ me! _)_

_Being dragged out of bed for a surprise_

_A good glass of red wine_

_Philippe L._

She had already used them multiple times when she had to cheer up both of them when they had both decided to be little drama queens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess I'm not feeling too good?  
> Do people even read these?


	15. Weak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I managed a chapter from Liselotte's POV!
> 
> Warning: there is homophobic and sexist language in this chapter.

**SWORDFIGHTING CLASS USUALLY WAS RATHER FUN –** at least if everyone showed up for them. Philippe was in the same group as Liselotte and Lorraine, so once the duels started, they usually made their way to the edge of the arena, where they would gossip and laugh at the others. At least once would one of them challenge one of the others, which usually ended in them circling around each other and waiting for the other to make the first move.

On this particular day, both Philippe and Lorraine were in great moods – they couldn’t stop touching each other – and Liselotte was just beaming with contentment. It had been a while since the trio had had a day like this and she was determined to make the most of it while it lasted. So as she watched the two Philippes dance around each other in something that was supposed to resemble a swordfight, she didn’t notice how one of Ares’ sons, Guillaume, had walked over and had sat down next to her.

At least not until he cleared his throat and spoke to her: “How about we have a go at it?”

“Excuse me?” She couldn’t help but frown at the weird phrasing. She was sure that he was simply challenging her to a duel, but for some reason it sounded a little _sexual._

“Once these two fags are done staring at each other, how about the two of us have a little duel?” The son of Ares attempted to smile charmingly at her in the hopes of convincing her.

Liselotte grimaced at the homophobic language that the man used to talk about her friends – she was so tempted to simply punch him right then and there, but that would only get her into more trouble – and almost said ‘no’ right because of that reason. “Of course. That sounds like a wonderful idea.”

William immediately smiled at her, before starting to yell at the two Philippes in the middle of the arena. “Hey, losers! Either finish what you started or let others also have a go!”

The daughter of Athena gasped, more and more determined to kick this man’s arse as he opened his mouth more and more. Okay, he _may_ look like a typical jock, ready to punch anyone and come out on top, but she usually tried to look past things like that. However, now it turned out that he was just a straight up bully and she couldn’t have that.

Lorraine and Philippe had lowered their swords, a little confused at the sudden name-calling from the side line. After exchanging a glance, the two of them shrugged and made their way over to Liselotte, who mouthed a quick apology as she took their place in the ring.

“Are you ready, _sweetheart_?” William grinned at Liselotte, before putting his helmet on and getting ready. “Or do you want to give in at the beginning now so that you can be spared embarrassment?”

“Why are you so sure that I’m going to lose? Just because you’re the son of Ares?” Liselotte mimicked the other’s moments and also get ready for the fight. “You’re not the only one who can _fight_ , you know.”

“Maybe, but you’re still a woman.” William clearly wasn’t convinced that she could actually kick his ass if she wanted to.

Liselotte was vaguely aware of Philippe jumping up and being pulled down again by Lorraine as she just rolled her eyes at him. “Let’s get this started, William.”

Before even giving her a fair chance by giving her some sort of sign that the fight had begun, William had already launched himself at the daughter of Athena, sword first, of course. She managed to dodge the attack and attempted to slap him on his ass with the flat side of her sword, but he was too fast and managed to avoid that slap. It went on like that for a few minutes, until William managed to hit Liselotte and forced her to fall to the ground.

As William towered over her, a bright grin around his lips, his sword placed against her throat. “Just as I thought. _Weak_ , just like everyone else.”

This time, Lorraine didn’t even _try_ to hold back Philippe, the two of them simply stormed over to William, planning on punching him until he could barely stay on his feet anymore. “You arsehole!” Philippe yelled, which gave Liselotte the chance to push the sword against her throat away and sweep William’s legs out from underneath him. She then jumped up and got in the exact same position as the son of Ares had been a few seconds ago.

“Am I still as weak as you think I am?” She grinned at him, before moving her sword away and holding out a hand to help him up.

William spat at her feet, before getting up on his own. “You cheated.” He growled, before pushing the two Philippes away and storming towards the edge of the arena once again.

“I didn’t!” She yelled right back at him, a bright – and maybe a little smug – grin around her lips. “You got distracted during a battle, that’s not my fault!”

The son of Ares spun around again to throw some choice words into Liselotte’s lips, but Chiron, who had been teaching the class interrupted him before anything could go wrong. “She is technically right.” He said. “You shouldn’t have allowed yourself to be distracted. Do you honestly think that in a real fight, out there, in the world will go as fairly as the fights around here?”

William grumbled quietly, but left Liselotte alone. As he ran into the two Philippe’s, who were rushing towards Liselotte, he glared at them, deliberately bumping his shoulders against the two others. However, he didn’t say a single word to them, which was already an improvement.

“Hey! You did well, Liselotte.” Philippe was the first one to reach their friend, smiling proudly at the other.

“I’m proud of you.” Lorraine said softly.

“Thank you, boys.”

The three of them smiled at each other for a moment, before Chiron announced that the class was over and they split up again to all go to lunch. After all, what else could they do after a fight like this than eat?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> William is not based on anyone in the Percy Jackson nor the Versailles world. I just needed an arsehole and that's the name I picked.


	16. Angular

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're getting to the weird adjectives that are freaking difficult to write something for, but I'm trying, okay?
> 
> And yes, that means that sometimes you'll get a string of texts revolving around a 'whale' pun.
> 
> Now that I've covered that, today's one is a little bit of a stretch as well. (:

**“HAVE YOU EVER SEEN SUCH SHARP CHEEKBONES BEFORE?”** Liselotte asked Lorraine as the two of them sat on the edge of the arena and watched Philippe as he fought William with a passion. Ever since the man had called Liselotte weak a few days ago, her two friends had done absolutely everything they possibly could to make his life a living hell. This was mostly during classes like swordfighting – like the one they were at now – or other classes where physical contact was required between the different students.

“I could cut myself on them.” Lorraine sighed, as he glanced at the woman next to him. “Can you imagine that? Just cupping his cheeks at some point and then all of a sudden, your hand is bleeding.”

Liselotte laughed softly, before nudging her friend. “They’re not _that_ angular.”

“What a weird way to describe someone’s cheekbones.” Lorraine rolled his eyes at her, before turning his attention back to the two men in the centre of the arena. “But yes, his are absolutely and totally _angular_.”

“Now that I hear you say that, it _does_ sound rather odd.” The daughter of Athena admitted.

“Yes, so please don’t ever say that again?” Lorraine nudged her, smiling softly.

Liselotte was about to comment on that when Philippe managed to defeat William, which caused the two of them to burst out in cheers for their friend. As Philippe rushed back to them, a little sweaty but definitely proud of what he had done, Lorraine pulled him in for a soft kiss, cupping the other’s cheek as he did.

When he pulled back – Liselotte was clearing her throat, since she wanted some attention as well – he moved his hand away from his cheek abruptly, gasping softly and holding it against his own chest. “Ow!”

Philippe immediately looked worried, but Liselotte simply started to laugh, shaking her head at the other’s antics. “Alright, Philippe, you win.”

The two od them just got confused at who she was talking about, so they exchanged a look before rushing towards her and pulling her in for a group hug. A happy end to the day, just this once.


	17. Swollen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost caught up!
> 
> My friend on twitter gave me the idea for this story, so credits go to them! Kind of.

“ **BE CAREFUL WITH THE BOTTLE!”** Lorraine yelled at Philippe as he noticed that the demigod had almost tripped over something – probably his feet or a lump of grass. “Please don’t drop the bottle, or we have snuck into the Big House for absolutely no reason.”

“And here I was, thinking that you cared about me, that you would tell me to be careful with my body!” They were being a little too loud and the two of them knew that, but they had already had a little bit of alcohol and lines were being blurred.

“Well, of course I want you to be careful with that beautiful body of yours, I thought that was _obvious_.” Lorraine turned around, he had stopped running to their destiny and instead turned his attention to his boyfriend once again, even holding a hand out towards him. “Come on, hurry up. Please. I’m sure that anyone could come out soon.”

“I may have twisted my ankle just now.” He confessed quietly.

Lorraine sighed dramatically, before taking the bottle of wine from Philippe and rolling his eyes at him. “Of course you would be the one to twist your ankle while stealing a bloody bottle of wine.”

“I tried my best, okay? But it’s dark, and there are a lot of stupid tufts of grass that are especially difficult to see _in the dark_.” Philippe was grateful for the man’s hand, though, and clung quite tightly onto it.

“Are you in pain?” The son of Dionysus noticed that there was something a little off about his boyfriend, especially the way he leaned quite heavily upon the other.

“I have to be honest, it doesn’t feel too good. Let’s just get inside, finish this bottle and then go to sleep. We’ll go to Claudine tomorrow then, if it looks suspicious.” Philippe decided, before leaning upon the other as they made their way over to the Hades cabin – since that was the cabin where the chances that they would get interrupted were smallest.

 

\--~--

 

The next morning, Philippe woke up with a throbbing ankle. As he pushed himself up and glanced at it, he could definitely see that it was swollen. Lorraine way laying next to him, still asleep, so the son of Hades nudged him until he was awake.

“What the _hell_ , mignonette. It’s too early.” Lorraine huffed softly as he turned his attention to his boyfriend, his eyes nothing more than just a two slits as he had only just woken up. “What’s going on?”

“My ankle from yesterday, it’s swollen. Please go get Claudine?” Philippe didn’t even want to try and stand on his own feet, just in case that it would hurt. Better to avoid that sort of things, right?

A soft grumble escaped Lorraine, but he got up and reached for one of his bag. He got out a small cube of ambrosia, which he then held out towards the other. “Here. Eat this and I won’t have to move further than this so I can just sleep some more.”

Taking it from the other, he bit down on it, hummed contently and closed his eyes as he felt the ‘magic’ work its way and heal his ankle. Thank the gods. At least he wouldn’t have to limp towards breakfast or explain to the doctor how he had gotten hurt. “Thank you.”

“Can I go back to sleep now?” Lorraine yawned as he crawled back into their bed and cuddled back into Philippe’s side. Before the other could even protest that now that they were both up anyway, they could simply stay awake, the son of Dionysus had already fallen asleep.

Well, he could just join him then, couldn’t he?

Within minutes, the two of them were asleep once again.


	18. Bottle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technically, the previous chapter could also have been used for this prompt but oh well.

**LORRAINE COULD OFTEN BE FOUND WITH A BOTTLE OF ALCOHOL SOMEWHERE ON HIS PERSON.** His father might be cursed so that he may never touch a drop of alcohol anytime soon, but that didn’t mean that he had passed it on to his son. So luckily, Lorraine could enjoy the taste of all kinds of alcohol. More often than not when Philippe made his way over to the cabin of Dionysus, there were bottles all over the place.

This time was no different, so as Philippe walked in and almost tripped over an empty bottle that once contained whiskey, he couldn’t help but curse.

“Language!” Lorraine shouted from the other side of the cabin, though he was clearly smiling.

Philippe rolled his eyes at the other, before picking up the bottle and throwing it in his direction. “If I ever hurt myself because of one of your bottles, I’m telling Claudine about your alcohol habit!”

“You wouldn’t _dare_!” Lorraine protested, jumped off his bed and rushed over to Philippe.

“Oh, I very much _would_.” The son of Hades rushed over to his boyfriend, picking up the bottle in the way, before waving it in Lorraine’s direction. “After I kiss you!”

The two of them stared angrily at each other for a moment before bursting out in a heap of giggles.

“Seriously, though, I could have gotten hurt. Please clean them up?” Philippe asked, before turning his puppy eyes in his boyfriend’s direction.

“How can I ever say no to a look like that?” Lorraine gently ruffled the other’s hair, shaking his head ever so slightly.

Philippe, who was torn between telling him off for ruffling his hair and thanking him for the bottle cleaning in the future, just pulled him in for the gentlest of kisses instead.


	19. Scorched

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They get sent on quests a lot, don't they? Oh /well/.

**AS THE TRIO CLIMBED THE HILL,** their stomachs growled. They had been on a quest for days now, tracking another demigod – or _something_ , they weren’t quite sure who they were following at this point – and every time they seemed to get close, they would stumble across another completely destroyed village or field. They had ran out of food a few days back now – mostly because Lorraine had eaten half of their supplies the first day, assume that they would bump into a Taco Bell or a McDonald’s _somewhere_.

He regretted that now, after three days of only drinking a few drops of ambrosia to keep from starving.

“If there is another destroyed McDo behind this hill, I’m going back home.” Lorraine sighed dramatically, flopping his arms around to attract the others’ attention. As Philippe glanced in his direction and smiled fondly at him, the son of Dionysus quickly took note of the other’s black circles underneath his eyes. He knew his boyfriend was sleeping a little better than he usually did on quests, but the son of Hades still had the tendency to take first guard and then ‘forget’ to wake the others.

“This keeps reminding me of something.” Liselotte sighed as she looped her arm through one of Lorraine’s. “It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I just can’t think of what it is.”

“What does it matter?” Lorraine growled softly, mimicking the noise that his stomach had been making for about an hour now. “If we don’t find a proper place to eat and sleep, I’m going to faint here.” Ever the drama queen, he was.

Philippe suddenly appeared at Liselotte’s other side, shrugging. “I’m sure that this time, we’ll be lucky.”

“You’ve been saying that for _days_ now.” Lorraine was whining like a child, because there was nothing mature about the son of Dionysus at that moment in time. “I’m _hungry_. It’s almost as if the person we’ve been tracking is deliberately burning everything behind them.”

“That’s _it!_ ” Liselotte exclaimed abruptly, a bright smile spreading across her face. “Everything where we might find rest or supplies is burnt, like the Russian Tsars did with Napoleon when he tried to invade Russia!”

As soon as Lorraine heard that history was involved, he stopped listening to the daughter of Athena, who had a tendency to ramble on about these kind of things. “Who cares who did it before, it’s affecting—”

Alas, Philippe suddenly realised what Liselotte was talking about and didn’t let his boyfriend finish his sentence. “The tactic of the scorched earth!”

“Yes, exactly!” Liselotte seemed way too content about this discovery. “This is _wonderful_ news.”

“Pray, tell me why exactly? We’ve just discovered that we will never be able to catch up because the one we’re following keeps burning everything, like what happened to some French tyrant.” The son of Dionysus huffed, really not seeing the positivity of the situation.

“We can go home now.” Philippe said, smiling for what felt like the first time in days. “There is absolutely no point in continuing to track them, since it’ll just end in us staving to death. The tactical thing to do is to go back home, regroup and try again another time.”

Once again, the daughter of Athena sent a smile their way as she agreed with the son of Hades. “Exactly, out quest is over and it’s time for us to return to camp.”

Finally understanding why something so bad could be a good thing, Lorraine beamed at the others, turned around and marched back down the hill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The tactic of the Scorched Earth was actually used, as mentioned in this fic, by the Russian Tsars when Napoleon tried to invade them. They knew they couldn't win the fight, so they retreated and burned everything behind them.
> 
> Napoleon's troops, which had been dependant on the food that they found on the road, suddenly couldn't find enough food anymore and many soldiers died before Napoleon gave up and returned home.
> 
> Side note, it was also winter back then, so not only did the soldiers have to deal with the lack of food, but also the freezing cold of the Russian winter.
> 
> And yes, that was the first thing I thought of when reading that the prompt was 'Scorched'. (:


	20. Breakable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two thirds done!

**WHEN THEY BROUGHT LISELOTTE INTO THE MED BAY,** the two Philippes were in class. They had archery together, while Liselotte had had Pegasus flying scheduled for that day. She was wonderful at flying, at horse riding _period_ , but this time, something had happened. It was Guillaume, the son of Apollo and a good friend of Philippe who came storming into the class. Lorraine hated just how bright Philippe’s smile became for a moment, but quickly dismissed it. That wasn’t what was important here, not now anyway.

“Sorry for interrupting, but can I talk to Philippe and Lorraine?” Guillaume didn’t care about the looks exchanged between the other students, nor the worried looks that the two Philippes sent him. He didn’t say another word until the two of them had accompanied him out of sight of the others.

“What’s going on, Guillaume?” Philippe was the one who dared to interrupt the silence first, as he was getting more and more nervous about what the news could possibly be.

“Liselotte fell off her Pegasus.” He said softly. “She was mid-flight, quite high up as well. She broke… well, a lot of bones.”

The two gasped, before starting to sprint towards the med bay, leaving Guillaume behind. They reached it as fast as they possibly could, of course, skidding to a halt right next to their friend’s bed. She was unconscious, but neither of them knew if she was in a coma or just resting.

“Ah, you’re here.” Claudine walked into the main med bay and quickly made her way over to the three demigods. “She’ll recover just fine, but she’s currently still recovering. She’s had ambrosia, which means that she’ll recover faster, but she’ll still need some time.”

“She looks so— _breakable._ ” Philippe said quietly, as he walked over towards her side and sat down on the bed next to Liselotte. “How long will it take before she’ll wake up again?”

“She’s just sleeping.” The doctor explained. “She should wake up in the morning.”

Lorraine stood behind Philippe, placing a hand on his shoulder. They were both equally worried about the daughter of Athena, currently broken and unconscious in front of them. It hurt to see her like that – and suddenly they realised what _she_ must feel like every time the two of them got hurt.

“Can I stay here tonight?” Lorraine asked, before Philippe could even think of the idea. He knew that the other would join him anyway.

“Of course.” Claudine said softly, smiling at the two demigods who stood next to the lady’s bed. “Have a nice afternoon and evening, boys.”

The doctor then left them be, only coming to check up on Liselotte every once in a while. They both stayed up all night, though Lorraine was about to fall asleep when Liselotte finally woke up again. It was only a nudge from Philippe that managed to wake him up again enough to be able to smile as the daughter of Athena opened her eyes.

They hadn’t been that happy in a _long_ time.


	21. Drain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> W h o o p.
> 
> I plan on finishing this on Halloween, but oof the writing isn't going to well most of the days. And then I've got a day that just goes absolutely brilliantly to catch up.
> 
> Let's just hope that all goes right (:

**“UH, PHILIPPE?”** The son of Hades was woken up by his boyfriend who gently poked him, clearly trying to either get him to stop sleeping or to give him attention. The hesitation in the demigod’s voice suggested that there was something wrong, however. So Philippe rolled over to face his boyfriend, raising an eyebrow and using that instead of words to ask the question that was on his lips.

_What have you done?_

“There’s something wrong with the drain, I think, by absolutely _no_ fault of my own. I absolutely didn’t get it blocked because of I didn’t get my hair out of it.” Lorraine cleared his throat, before making his way over to the bathroom again, hoping that Philippe would get out of bed to come and check it out.

“You _know_ , Lorraine, that with _your_ beautiful, golden, long hair, you need to clear the drain before you pull it out.” The son of Hades pushed himself out of bed, groaning softly, before making his way over to the bathroom which was, to be fair, completely flooded. “ _How_ did you manage this? Why don’t you take a bath in your _own_ bathroom?”

“ _Because_ it’s _flooded_ …”


	22. Expensive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The original idea was based on a string of tweets from Alex and Evan, but I watched a lot of David Tennant while writing this so it m a y be a little out of character and a little.... David Tennant-y.
> 
> Whoops?

“ **I’M GOING OUT AGAIN TOMORROW,** Chiron has approved my little quest to collect something important on the outside.” Lorraine cleared his throat for a moment, before stepping closer to Philippe and pulling him in for a soft kiss. “It shouldn’t take too long, I’ll be back before you wake up, probably.”

Though a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips, Philippe pretended to be offended by that last little statement. “I promise that I’ll be awake by the time you’re back. Besides, why do you have to go out _again?_ You’ve been going on ‘quests’ on and off for the last week or so?”

The son of Dionysus deliberately didn’t answer straight away, he simply stormed out of the cabin while answering that question. Sort of. “Don’t look at your amazon check-out page.”

Too bad, then, that the other demigod actually understood him fairly well. Philippe snatched his collar, pulling him back to him and pinning against the nearest wall. “Listen, Philippe. If you’ve been using my amazon account, I _swear_.”

“I _haven’t!_ Well, maybe a little bit. Nothing too expensive.” Suddenly awfully aware that the son of Hades was no longer the same man he had been when he had arrived, one that he could so easily convince to close his eyes about certain things, Lorraine cleared his throat. “Nothing that you’d notice anyway.”

“ _Philippe_.” The demigod practically hissed at the other, dragging him a little closer to him. “You’d be _so_ surprised about what I may notice and what I may not.”

“There was only _one_ really expensive thing, which I’m going to pick up tomorrow.” Lorraine cleared his throat again, before pushing the son of Hades away from him and walking towards his own cabin. “And I would appreciate it if you let me do so, since you’ve already paid for it anyway.”

“Get back here!” Philippe called out, before storming after the other. “Philippe, get back over here!”

Lorraine turned around quickly, blew a kiss in the other’s direction and then locked himself in his cabin anyway.

 

\--~--

 

When Lorraine got to the amazon delivery point and asked for his package, he found that it had already been collected. When he left, he found a very smug Philippe, leaning against a wall, holding that exact package.

“So I took a look at what was inside and I don’t think that it’s something you’d enjoy.” Philippe raised an eyebrow at him, expecting an explanation from the other.

“Well, this was supposed to be a surprise, but you’d been complaining about how your phone was starting to malfunction sometimes, so I bought you a new one.” Lorraine sent the other a small smile, though he was clearly also a little nervous about the other’s reaction.

“Oh.” For a moment, Philippe had no idea what to say. “Thank you, I’m—sorry that I ruined this for you.”

“You kind of bought it with your own money, after all.”

Once again, the two of them just sort of stared at each other and started giggling.


	23. Muddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tomorrow will be a big day. Probably.

**“WHY ARE YOU SMILING SO MUCH,** Philippe?” Liselotte asked, a small frown between her brows.

“No reason whatsoever.” Philippe shrugged, though that grin didn’t disappear in the least.

Lorraine rushed over to them, leaning on both their shoulders before he spoke. “Louis came over, slipped in a patch of muddy soil and fell face first.”

The three of them laughed happily as they made their way to the next class.


	24. Chop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully one more tonight.
> 
> Can't promise anything, though.

**“WE NEED SOME WOOD FOR THE CAMPFIRE,** Lorraine.” Chiron glanced at the son of Dionysus, before gesturing at Liselotte, Philippe and a few other campers as well. “Why don’t you accompany him and go chop a tree? There’s one that died with the last storm and it would be better for the grove if we took care of it and replace it by a new, healthy tree.”

A soft sigh escaped from the two boys, who preferred to fight with real life people, rather than use an axe or a sword to chop down a tree. In no way whatsoever were they eager. So the other demigods who had been assigned this task already knew that they would be doing most of the work. And no, none of them were looking very forward to it.

It was Philippe who spoke first, determined to take the lead in this little adventure. “So who shall do the chopping and who shall do the carrying?”

“How about you shut up, snog your boyfriend and just stay out of the way?” The other – he was a son of Eris, Philippe was quite sure of it – snarled, before grabbing one of the axes that had been assigned to them. “It’s not as if you’re going to be very useful.”

Liselotte was already getting all worked up in the boys’ name, but Philippe gently placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her a little closer to him. No need for them to ignore orders, right? “Let’s grab some of those marshmallows to roast over the fire later on. We’ll share it with the Eris cabin, maybe they won’t be as grumpy with us then.”

“But first,” Lorraine said, smiling sweetly, “we’re going to take a little break from doing nothing and do some of their chores. It’s only fair.”

Liselotte and Philippe exchanged a look, tilting their heads in the same comical way for a moment, before nodding. “I think they could do with a nice cleaning of their cabin.”

The three of them smiled at each other, content about the decision reached, and set off to work.


	25. Prickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of Philippe giving something to Liselotte to keep her company while she studies just seemed so adorable to me, so here we go.

**LISELOTTE SAT ON HER WINDOW SILL,** smiling at the small cactus that she had decided she would be adopting. It was a new addition to the Athena cabin, present from Philippe. He had asked the Demeter cabin – or so he had told her – to get one of the plants that required the least amount of attention and a very detailed list of how to take care of it.

They had presented him a small cactus.

She watered it every other week, as per instructions, and spoke to it as often as she could, especially when she was doing research. She tended to wonder out loud what was happening, where her research would bring her next. Though she didn’t have a green thumb and Demeter’s kids had predicted that the cactus would die within a week, it was still alive.

“You’re quite prickly today, aren’t you?” She muttered, mostly distracted.

Her other half-siblings had learned to ignore her when she got in moods like this, mostly because there was no snapping her out of it.

“What’s gotten you in a mood like this?”

She took a few notes, before turning her the book in her lap.  She turned the page, only to glance at the page right at the top of the page.

“Have you ever been anywhere but the Camp? This map’s of Greece and I’d love to go there. I know that when I still lived in Germany, I visited some European countries, but I don’t have any memories of Greece or something like that.”

She glanced up from the map, her eyes trained on the cactus.

“I should really give you a name, shouldn’t I? I’m surprised that I haven’t done so.”

Liselotte leaned back for a moment, admiring her little cactus. For a moment, she considered a short list, before settling on Prickly after all.

“I really should thank Philippe at some point. You are excellent company.”

To those who had a better eye for these sort of things, they could see a pleased little movement going through the plant.

Liselotte had chosen—

_Wisely._


	26. Stretch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To be fair, I think these shorter chapters are getting better again.
> 
> But then again, I don't know that for sure~

****

**PHILIPPE HAD DIFFERENT WAYS OF STRETCHING AND ALL OF THEM MEANT SOMETHING DIFFERENT.**

The first one was one usually performed in class. If he could feel himself getting tired, he’d stretch, in a very horizontal way, one that clearly expressed boredom and exhaustion and a clear wish that he wanted to be anywhere but there.

If he was actually tired, in bed, his stretches usually were lazy, slow, as if he didn’t want to move the body that was already getting heavy. It was often the result of a twitch, which had jerked him awake right at the moment where he had been about to fall asleep. It was one Lorraine rarely got to witness.

The third kind was to show that he was awake, to attract his boyfriend’s attention so that he would kiss him. Or hold him. Or whatever. The son of Dionysus knew that this was his favourite. This was when Philippe would tolerate lazy kisses, trailed along his collarbone, or his spine, or his arms. At moments like this, he could convince him to just lie together, happy, unaware of the rest of the world.

The showy type of stretch was the fourth type. If he was in class and wanted to express his disinterest – or something similar – Philippe tended to stretch like this: a huge gesture, quite obnoxious, and absolutely clear in its intent. If he could, he’d be gone.

The fifth and last one was the one Lorraine may enjoy the least: Philippe warming up for a battle, while attempting and quite _wonderful_ to stare at, wasn’t something that he liked to see. After all, it meant that the son of Hades could get so terribly hurt that he ended up in the med bay. Again.

Sometimes, Lorraine would count the amount of stretches that he would be able to witness in a day. A one stretch day was the average, two was a good day, three a great, four a brilliant and five was an absolutely amazing day, which happened so rarely that when he did see it, it couldn’t help but smile all day and have everyone ask him what the hell was going on with him.

He’d always refuse to explain, especially to Philippe. It was just his little secret.


	27. Thunder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Either the prompts are easier to write with or I am doing fairly well in the creative department. 
> 
> However, with this prompt I'm up to date again, and I'm off to sleep once more.
> 
> Also, have some wonderful brother-feels. I love these two and would write more about them if only I had fun ideas.

**NICO HAD TOLD HIM THAT IT WAS PERFECTLY NORMAL FOR A SON OF HADES TO FEAR THE THUNDER.** For Philippe, it was something a little more than that. Fearing the thunder sounded as if it was something that was still rational, that could be pushed aside when necessary, but what the son of Hades was suffering from was nothing like that. The second that he heard a hint of a thunder, he tended to crawl under the covers, attempting to put a layer between him and the lightning.

His heart would beat fast, his thoughts would become both slow and slugging and race a fifty thoughts a second through his mind. He was unable to catch them, to think the thoughts, all except one. All he knew was that he was terrified, that he needed to get away as far as he possibly could from whatever the source of that noise was.

Out of habit, he reached for his phone and dialled his brother’s number. It didn’t take too long before Louis picked up, his voice filled with confusion as he spoke. “Philippe, what’s going on? Why are you calling?”

It was mostly a weak mutter that came from the other side of the line, but it was all that Louis needed to know what was going on.

“Is it storming? Do you want me to sing mother’s song?” The noise coming from the other side of the line was taken as confirmation and Louis started to sing a soft song, hoping to help his brother slip into a dreamless sleep.

He could hear his brother’s quick breathing slowly calming down as he sang, until he was sure that he could hear snoring coming from the other side. He smiled at himself for a moment, before hanging up and allowing himself to drift off to sleep once more.


	28. Gift

**LORRAINE USUALLY WOKE UP TO A NEARLY EMPTY CABIN,** since most of the other children of Dionysus were earlier birds than he was. They attempted to get some work done in the morning, while he preferred to sleep for as long as he could, do his work in the evening and stay up for way too late. Just like that, he quite quickly fell into a loop.

This was the reason why he was on his own today as well, though there was something different about the cabin this morning. It wasn’t that he was alone, it wasn’t that there were no dust around him – those were all quite normal things. It was the fact that there was a big present right next to him, waiting to be opened. It wasn’t anywhere near to his birthday, so it couldn’t be a birthday present from his father – it was his father’s habit to deliver the present without actually seeing him, but Lorraine knew that he cared, deep down.

He pushed himself up and took a closer look at the present, trying to deduce who it was from. There were no signs or cards, so all there was left for him was to open it. He ripped the paper around the present, only to reveal a new jacket, one he had been talking about to Philippe for ages. The present could only have come from him!

He quickly put it on, before storming to the Hades cabin with more vigour in his step than usual. He knocked on the door before throwing it open, effectively waking his boyfriend up.

“Thank you!” He screamed, before rushing over and pecking the other’s cheeks, over and over and over, until Philippe muttered quietly to let him go, that he was awake, that he was present.

“I would love to wake up like this every morning.” Philippe said eventually, once he was actually awake. “Unless you’re against this?”

Rather than use his words, Lorraine just peppered him with kisses once more, holding him quite closely as they spent the morning together. His new jacket didn’t stay on for very long.


	29. Double

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got my 2DS again today and played some more Pokemon Ultra Sun. Blame this chapter on that ( :

**PHILIPPE HAD BROUGHT HIS 3DS WITH HIM WHEN HE CAME TO CAMP,** though he hadn’t actually played it until now. He had been too busy learning new things – and to be fair, getting to know new people – to take the time to play through the Pokemon Ultra Sun storyline. So when Chiron announced that classes would be suspended for a full week so that they could take a break, the son of Hades decided that he would take a day off to play some Pokemon.

He locked himself away in his cabin and curled up on the sofa, quickly settling back into the playstyle of the game. He had been busy with it for about an hour or three when Lorraine nonchalantly strolled in, nudging him and cuddling up against him.

“What are you doing?” Lorraine asked, since he was clearly unfamiliar with the device in his boyfriend’s hands.

“I’m playing a game.” He said quietly, not really paying attention to what the other was saying. “I’ve got to battle with these animals called Pokemon against others with the same creatures.” He showed the screen to Lorraine, humming softly. The theme tune was stuck in his head and even though he may not have the best voice, he still enjoyed humming along. (And it appeared to amuse Lorraine as well.)

The son of Dionysus glanced at it, trying to understand what he was telling him, before realising that there were four creatures on the screen. “Why are there four? If it’s one against one, then why are there four?”

Philippe glanced at him, a little surprised that he had even noticed. He smiled at Lorraine, before pressing a soft kiss to the man’s forehead. “Double battle. It doesn’t happen all too often in the beginning, but it’s basically two against one, so I get to use two of my Pokemon.”

“Oh. You get to use more than just one?” Lorraine felt like he was asking stupid questions, but being raised in the camp for most of his youth, he never got things like this. Dionysus wasn’t really the father to give presents like these, since he didn’t believe in teaching through games.

“I get to pick six and you have to try and find a balanced team. There are different types of Pokemon with different abilities, like us demigods.” Philippe quickly finished the battle – it really wasn’t that difficult – and then opened the menu to show Lorraine. “If you want, you can borrow my 3DS and play one of the previous games.”

Lorraine looked up at Philippe with wide eyes, clearly grateful for that offer alone. He pressed a soft kiss against his cheek, before settling back against his side. “Thank you! But for now, I’m more than happy to just watch you play.”

Philippe smiled at him, before continuing to play and talk about the game for the rest of the afternoon.


	30. Jolt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is a bit of a stretch, but I've had this idea since I went to Brighton myself -- which is why I sent them here in the first place -- but I had some cute ideas while on the train today and o o f.
> 
> I had a lot of inspiration (:
> 
> ONE MORE TO GO!

**THE DAYS PASSED AND QUICKLY TURNED INTO WEEKS,** then months, then years. Philippe’s first year went by, then his second, his third, his _fifth_. The two fought a lot, but always made up – to be honest, the make-up sex was absolutely _brilliant._ The two of them grew up at that camp, but eventually, it was time for the two of them to go to college. The summer before they did that, however, Philippe had decided that they were going to travel the world at least a _little_ bit.

They knew by now to avoid Italy and Ancient Greece, but nothing was ever mentioned about going to Great Britain – or other European countries. While Chiron had strongly advised against it, he had not been able to stop the duo and that was exactly why Lorraine and Philippe found themselves in Brighton, on a beautiful autumn day.

After walking from the station – they had left their luggage in London, where they intended to return before the day was over – towards the see, a soft smile spread across Philippe’s face as he remembered the holidays in France at the coast. For some reason, this town reminded him of that and he just couldn’t stop smiling.

“What are you smiling about?” Lorraine asked after he had taken about ten different pictures of his boyfriend smiling. “I haven’t seen you this happy in a _long_ time.”

“I almost feel like I’m at home.” He said softly, before turning towards the son of Dionysus and pulling him in for a kiss. “We’re in the Gay Capital of the UK and the weather is beautiful and—” Philippe was too distracted by the sight of the sea to continue that sentence. “Philippe, look at that, there’s the pier!”

Lorraine grinned at the enthusiasm of the other demigod, looking at where he was pointing. “That looks quite nice, indeed.” However, after a closer look, it turned out that Philippe’s mood was quite endearing. “Are those carnival-like attractions?”

“Yes!” Philippe jumped a few times, before grabbing his boyfriend’s hand and starting to drag him along. “I do hope that they have a place to get a donkey ride!” And just like that, the two of them ran off towards the pier, their enthusiasm causing the people around them to roll their eyes at them, but smile.

 

\--~--

 

The walk was a short one, but after arriving at the pier, they couldn’t help but grin brightly at each other. There were multiple stands where they quickly grabbed some churros – “Six pounds, is that a lot for something like this?”, “I don’t think so, but look how delicious they look!” – and happily shared them. They sat down on one of the benches and looked out towards the see as they simply enjoyed the food and the last bit of autumn sun.

“I never thought that the weather would be _this_ beautiful today.” Philippe said, his mouth full of churro. “I mean, in London they said that today would be the nicest day in a long time, but I hadn’t thought it’d get like _this.”_

“Don’t complain, Philippe.” Lorraine hummed softly. “If you complain, you jinx it and the weather will change. I’d like it to stay like this.”

“True, true.” He hummed, as he finished his bite and swallowed everything. “Have you finished the churros? Then we can move on to the attractions.” Philippe felt a lot like a child that day – he was more than eager to behave like one – and jumped up, snatching the little baggie that the churros had come in out of Lorraine’s hands. He crumpled it up – it was empty after all – and threw it in the nearest bin before holding a hand out towards his boyfriend once more.

Lorraine happily took it, before tugging him along towards the first building filled with arcade machines, which they passed through without paying a lot of attention to the loud machines and the even louder people surrounding them. They had a destination, after all, that they wanted to get to.

Soon enough, they arrived at the fair attractions, like bumper cars and a haunted house. Even though Philippe was in a childlike mood, he was a little too aware of the people around him to let go of those few inhibitions. That didn’t stop him from looking around, though, and from noticing that every attraction came with a brief description of how tall you needed to be, etc.

The first time they came across it, Philippe impulsively started to read it out loud. “All children under the age of thirteen must be accompanied by a competent adult.” The son of Hades had quite a lot of trouble keeping a giggle under control, especially as he glanced at Lorraine, who seemed to have the exact same problem he was. “Do you have to take a test to see whether you are an adult and competent at being one?”

Lorraine could no longer hold back the laugh that escaped him. “Hello, sir, could you please answer a few questions before you and this child go on the ride? On what temperature do you wash your underwear?”

The two of them just lost it – especially after the voice that Lorraine had given the random employee – and burst out in a rather loud giggle. They got a few glances from the other people around, but neither of them cared. Why would they? They were having fun and nobody was allowed to stop them from doing so.

They kept giggling, even after the appropriate amount of time to giggle about a stupid joke like that had passed – a single glance at the other’s direction was more than enough to get them laughing once again. Even as they continued to walk along the pier and check out all the other rides, they kept bumping into the phrase ‘competent adult’ and every time, they burst out into laughter again.

 

\--~--

 

Once they had seen everything and made their way back towards the city – it was nearing dinner time and both of them were starting to get a little hungry – Philippe rested his head on Lorraine’s shoulder as they walked together. “I am still kind of disappointed that I couldn’t get a donkey ride.”

Lorraine glanced at the pout that his boyfriend was sporting and squatted in front of him, clearly offering the son of Hades a piggy bag ride.

“What the hell are you doing?” Philippe chuckled, the giggle almost coming back from before.

“I’m offering you a ride on the biggest ass around.” Lorraine raised an eyebrow at him, as if it wasn’t absolutely and completely obvious.

The son of Hades rolled his eyes at him, jumped on Lorraine’s back and squealed as the man started to run the last few feet towards ‘dry’ land. And even though the ride was a little bumpy and the jolts it sent through his body were less than pleasant, at that moment Philippe _knew_ that Lorraine was the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

If he was prepared to run around in a strange country with him on his back, Philippe was absolutely sure that this man was a keeper.

 

\--~--

 

The rest of the day was overshadowed by that realisation – even during the train ride back to London, Philippe was more content and giggly than usual. Lorraine asked a few times what he was thinking about, but the son of Hades simply refused to tell him – a plan was hatching in his head and he wasn’t going to get it ruined by telling Philippe.

By about ten p.m., they collapsed in their beds and turned towards each other, a tired or content smile around both their lips.

“Did you enjoy today?” Lorraine asked, right before he pulled the son of Hades into his arms.

“I did.” He hummed. “It was the best day of the trip so far.”

The son of Dionysus pressed a soft kiss to the back of Philippe’s neck, before nuzzling his head there comfortably. He was getting ready to drift off to sleep, which was the moment that the demigod who had ended up being the little spoon took some time to reflect on the day. He was quiet for about a minute, before he spoke once more.

“Competent adults, though.”

The two of them burst out into giggles once again, which continued until they fell asleep with the widest smile around their lips.


	31. Slice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I DID IT!
> 
> Though it's technically past midnight for me, I'm counting this as a win.
> 
> I may not have written every single day, but I wrote /something/ for every single prompt. I'm proud of most of these drabbles (:
> 
> Thank you for sticking around, thank you for reading and I hope you had as much fun on this adventure as I did! (And now it's back to the Merlin fanfic, if school doesn't consume all my time again.)

**“HAND ME A SLICE OF THAT CAKE,** please?” Philippe glanced at the cake in Lorraine’s hands, one that he had made himself – and which he was quite proud of, thank you very much. “It just looks _so_ delicious.”

“It’s for _tomorrow_ , Philippe, I have told you so many times before.” Lorraine rolled his eyes at his boyfriend, though he did press a soft kiss to the back of his neck.

“What’s so special about tomorrow?” Philippe asked, raising an eyebrow as he tried to glance at him. However, the son of Dionysus had managed to hide his face behind his own curls – the _betrayal!_

“Nothing. It’s not October anymore and it’s a Christian holiday, but we don’t celebrate those, so—” Lorraine hummed softly. “I just felt like baking, but this recipe needs the cake to sit for a full day for the flavours to mix.”

A soft groan escaped the son of Hades, his stomach growling quite loudly in protest.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make some quick merengue, you should have something to eat within an hour or so.” That statement earned Lorraine a few kisses peppered to his cheeks before the demigod disappeared to the kitchen once again, followed by Philippe, who mostly sat on a nearby countertop and commented on whatever Lorraine was doing.

Just a normal day in the life of the two Philippes, then.


End file.
